JP4127380B2 - Vertical vacuum packaging machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vertical vacuum packaging machine in which a vertical filling device for filling the contents of a bag and a vertical vacuum processing device for performing vacuum processing and bag mouth sealing on a filled bag are provided.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Vertical vacuum packaging machines are generally equipped with multiple sets of grippers that grip both side edges of a bag at regular intervals around a table that rotates intermittently. A rotary vertical filling device that fills the contents and a vacuum chamber that can be opened and closed with a gripper for gripping the bags filled with the contents. A rotary vertical vacuum processing device that is provided at regular intervals and receives the bag into the vacuum chamber while the table rotates once, vacuum-processes and seals the bag mouth, and a bag filled with the contents. It consists of a bag delivery device that receives from the gripper of the filling device and delivers it to the gripper of the vacuum processing device (for example, Japanese Patent No. 2538473, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-236209). See broadcast, etc.).
In such a two-rotor type vertical vacuum packaging machine, bags are supplied one by one to the gripper of the rotary type vertical filling device, filling operations are sequentially performed on the bags, and the bag delivery device is moved from the gripper. Each filled bag is received one by one and delivered to the gripper of the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus, and vacuum processing and sealing are performed for each bag in each vacuum chamber.
[0003]
By the way, in the rotary type vertical filling device of the type that seals the bag mouth (the type that fills the content that is not subjected to vacuum processing), as described in, for example, JP-A-2002-36392, two adjacent Supply one bag at a time to a set of grippers (ie, supply two bags at the same time), and then perform filling operations such as filling the contents and sealing the bag mouth at the same time for the two bags. The thing which improved the property is known. Such a rotary type vertical filling apparatus handles two adjacent bags suspended by two sets of grippers at the same time, and thus simulates a form in which the two bags are suspended side by side. It is called a type.
Although not a rotary type, a vertical type vacuum packaging machine that improves the productivity by filling the contents in a plurality of bags at the same time and placing them in a vacuum chamber and simultaneously vacuuming the plurality of bags is known. (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 57-33205).
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
On the other hand, even in a two-rotor type vertical vacuum packaging machine, the idea of improving both the rotary type vertical filling device and the rotary type vertical vacuum processing device to a W type to improve the production efficiency already exists. However, in this case, the entire rotary type vertical vacuum packaging machine becomes too large, and the disadvantages associated therewith are large, and the W-type two-rotor type vertical vacuum packaging machine has not yet been put into practical use.
That is, first, in the rotary type vertical filling device, when a plurality of sets of grippers are arranged around the rotary table by using the W type, the diameter of the rotary table increases, and the size of the device increases accordingly. In addition, since the gripper of the rotary type vertical filling device is a type that grips both side edges of a bag, the interval between two filled bags held by adjacent grippers (two pieces of filling operation performed simultaneously) If the two bags are received simultaneously in one of the vacuum chambers of the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus, the width of the vacuum chamber) must be open to some extent. It is necessary to set the size considerably larger than the width of two bags. Since the rotary table of the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus is equipped with a number of vacuum chambers in the circumferential direction, the dimension in the width direction of the vacuum chamber alone greatly affects the size of the entire rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus, Therefore, the entire rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus becomes very large.
Further, when the vacuum chamber is increased in size in the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus, the decompression time becomes longer, which hinders the improvement in productivity. If a large vacuum pump is installed to cover this, the apparatus is further increased in size.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and the object thereof is vertical vacuum packaging in which a W-type rotary vertical vacuum processing apparatus is provided together with a W-type vertical filling apparatus. The purpose of this machine is to make the entire vacuum chamber and vertical vacuum packaging machine compact.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the vertical vacuum packaging machine according to the present invention, a plurality of sets of grippers that grip both side edges of a bag are intermittently moved along a circular path or a reciprocating path, and the bags are supplied to two adjacent grippers at each stop position. And a W-type vertical filling device that simultaneously performs filling operations on the two bags gripped by the two sets of grippers, and a lid that includes grippers for gripping the two bags filled with the contents, respectively. A W-type rotary vertical vacuum processing apparatus in which a plurality of openable / closable vertical vacuum chambers rotate along a horizontal circular path, and the bag is vacuumed and the bag mouth is sealed during one rotation. The two grippers for gripping the bags one by one are arranged at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the bag, and reciprocate simultaneously between the receiving position and the delivery position without changing the direction, and from the receiving position. In the process of moving to the delivery position, the distance between them is reduced, and at the receiving position, two filled bags held by two adjacent grippers of the vertical filling device are simultaneously received, and at the delivery position, the A bag delivery device for delivering simultaneously to a gripper of a rotary type vertical vacuum processing device is provided.
[0007]
The vertical filling device is preferably a rotary vertical filling device in which a plurality of sets of grippers that grip both side edges of the bag move intermittently along a horizontal circular path. However, for example, a vertical filling device (type in which the gripper moves intermittently along a reciprocating path) of the type described in FIG.
The rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus may be either an intermittent rotation type or a continuous rotation type. The gripper includes a fixed grip portion mounted horizontally in the vacuum chamber and a movable grip portion that rotates horizontally with the retarded side in the rotation direction of the vacuum chamber as a base end portion. It is desirable to hold two bags at the same time. This gripper is the same type as that described in Japanese Patent No. 2538473 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-236209.
[0008]
Further, the bag delivery device includes a reciprocating mechanism for reciprocally moving the two grippers between the receiving position and the delivery position without changing the orientation of the gripper, and the two grippers from the receiving position to the delivery position. It is desirable to provide an approach / separation mechanism that narrows the distance between the two grippers in the process of moving and increases the distance between the two grippers in the process of moving from the delivery position to the receiving position. The gripper is preferably of a type that grips the upper edge of the bag from above when closed, and in particular, can grip the upper edge of the bag over most or almost the entire width of the bag. The direction of reciprocal movement is preferably perpendicular to the width direction of the bag.
In addition, the bag delivery apparatus which can be used suitably for a vertical vacuum packaging machine can hold | grip the two bags which the two grippers which hold | grip the upper edge of a bag from the top when it closes lined up along the width direction Open / close mechanism that opens and closes the two grippers at the same time, and at the same time without changing the orientation of the gripper between the receiving position and the delivery position that are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. A reciprocating mechanism for reciprocating and a reciprocating mechanism for reducing the distance between the two grippers in the process of moving the two grippers from the receiving position to the delivery position and for moving the two grippers from the delivery position to the receiving position. A contact / separation mechanism is provided to widen the gap.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the vertical vacuum packaging machine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 1, a W-type rotary vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3 is installed on a machine base 1 in the same manner as a W-type rotary vertical filling apparatus 2.
In rotary vertical filling device 2, the periphery of the table T ₁ is intermittently rotated, without 2 × 8 sets of grippers for gripping (shown both side edges of the bag W, shown only in dashed line circular path gripper moves ) are arranged at regular intervals in duplicate, table T ₁ is in the process of intermittently rotating, supply and filling operation or the like of the bag at each stop position (I- VIII) is performed as follows. The rotary vertical filling device 2 is basically the same as a conventional W-type rotary vertical filling device (see, for example, JP-A-2002-36392), except that the bag mouth is not completely sealed. It is the same as
Stop position I: One pair (two in total) of bags are simultaneously supplied to the two sets of grippers that have stopped by the bag feeder 4, and both side edges are gripped by the grippers.
Stop position II: The date of manufacture and the like are printed by the printing device 5 on the bag surfaces of the two bags held by the two sets of grippers.
Stop position III: Both sides of the two bags are adsorbed by the vacuum sucker 6 to open the bag mouth, and the whole bag is spread by the air blown from the tip of the cone head 7 inserted from the bag mouth.
Stop position IV: The hopper 8 is inserted into each of the two bags from the bag mouth, and the bag is filled with solid matter.
Stop position V: Nozzles (nozzle lifting device 9 is shown) are inserted into the two bags from the bag mouths, respectively, and the liquid is filled into the bags.
Stop position VI: Empty process. In some cases, temporary sealing of the bag mouth (seal that leaves an air passage from the inside of the bag to the outside of the bag) is performed.
Stop position VII: Two filled bags are delivered to the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3.
Stop position VIII: Empty process.
[0011]
On the other hand, the rotary Shikitate type vacuum processing apparatus 3, 10 of the vacuum chamber 11 around the table T ₂ that rotates intermittently are disposed at equal intervals, each of the vacuum chamber 11 is opened and closed by the main body 11a with a predetermined timing cover 11b, and a gripper 12 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) for holding the bag is provided inside the main body 11a. Two bags received in the vacuum chamber 11 is simultaneously gripped by gripper 12, step seals, etc. of the vacuum processing and bag mouth while table T ₂ makes one rotation is performed in order, sealed two The product bag B is discharged onto the discharge conveyor 13. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the gripper 12 rotates horizontally with a fixed grip portion 12a horizontally fixed in the main body 11a and a retarded side (rear side) of the rotation direction of the vacuum chamber 11 as a base end portion. The movable gripping portion 12b rotates horizontally (opens and closes) at a predetermined timing, and the width of the vicinity of the bag mouth of the two bags between the fixed gripping portion 12a (the position below the seal portion) is widened. Hold in the direction. In order to hold the two bags A together, the width of the gripper 12 is equal to or slightly wider than the width of the two bags A. The rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3 is a conventional rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2538473 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-236209), except that it corresponds to the W type. And basically the same.
[0012]
In this two-rotor vertical vacuum packaging machine, a bag delivery device 14 is installed between the rotary vertical filling device 2 and the rotary vertical vacuum processing device 3, and this bag delivery device 14 is a rotary vertical filling machine. A bag (two at the same time) is received from the apparatus 2 and delivered to the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3. 2 to 4, the bag delivery device 14 includes a frame 16 fixed to an upper end of a stand 15 erected on the machine base 1, two guide shafts 17 fixed in parallel to the frame 16, 18, slide members 19, 20 fitted in the guide shafts 17, 18, a slide shaft 22 slidably fitted to the slide member 19 via a slide bearing 21, and slides on the slide member 20 via a slide bearing 23. The slide shaft 24 is freely fitted, and the gripping mechanisms 25 and 26 are provided at the tips of the slide shafts 22 and 24. The slide members 19 and 20 are fixedly connected to each other by a connecting member 38.
[0013]
The gripping mechanism 25 passes through the gripper mounting block 27 fixed to the tip end of the slide shaft 22, the shaft support portion 28 fixed to the side surface of the tip end portion, and the gripper mounting block 27, and is rotatably fitted to the shaft support portion 28. The open / close shaft 29, the open / close lever 30 fixed to the open / close shaft 29, and the rear end of the open / close shaft 29 are attached to the attachment member 31 fixed to the gripper attachment block 27. An air cylinder 33 to be moved, and a gripper 34 including a fixed grip portion 34 a fixed to the outer periphery of the shaft support portion 28 and a movable grip portion 34 b fixed to the outer periphery of the opening / closing shaft 29. The lower end portion (gripping portion) of the gripper 34 is wide so that the upper edge of the bag can be gripped over the entire width of the bag, and a gripping rubber 37 is attached to the lower end clamping portion of the movable gripping portion 34b. Yes. The gripping mechanism 26 has a gripper 35 that is similarly composed of a fixed gripping portion 35a and a movable gripping portion 35b, and the other structure is substantially the same as the gripping mechanism 25, but the slide shaft 22 is loosely fitted to the gripper mounting block 36. It differs from the gripping mechanism 25 in that a hole is formed. In this example, the connecting mechanism from the air cylinder 33 and the piston rod 32 to the opening / closing shaft 29 constitutes the opening / closing mechanism referred to in the present invention.
[0014]
Cam rollers 43 and 44 are attached to the slide shafts 22 and 24 through attachment shafts 41 and 42, respectively, so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. The cam rollers 43 and 44 are in the shape of elongated holes formed on the upper wall of the frame 16. It can roll along the cam grooves 45 and 46. The cam grooves 45 and 46 are formed such that the cam rollers 43 and 44 approach each other by the same distance when the cam rollers 43 and 44 move forward (leftward in FIG. 2) along the cam grooves 45 and 46. Yes. When the cam rollers 43 and 44 approach each other, the grippers 34 and 35 approach each other by the same distance toward the center in the horizontal plane via the slide shafts 22 and 24. In this example, the cam rollers 43 and 44, the cam grooves 45 and 46, the slide shafts 22 and 24, the slide members 19 and 20 and the like constitute the contact / separation mechanism referred to in the present invention.
[0015]
Further, a shaft portion 47 projects from the upper surface of the slide member 19 and passes through a long hole 48 formed in the upper wall of the frame 16, and one end of the drive lever 50 is connected to the shaft portion 47 via a connection link 49. Has been. The drive lever 50 descends to the side of the frame 16 and enters the frame 16, and an end portion of the drive lever 50 is connected to a drive shaft 51 (not shown) and reciprocally rotates at a predetermined timing. ).
When the drive shaft 51 rotates, the drive lever 50 swings around the drive shaft 51, and the slide members 19 and 20 reciprocate back and forth, whereby the slide shafts 22 and 24 and the grippers 34 and 35 move back and forth. Move back and forth as much. In this example, the connecting mechanism from the drive shaft 51 to the slide shafts 22 and 24 constitutes a reciprocating mechanism according to the present invention.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the grippers 34 and 35 (particularly their tip gripping portions) are arranged on the left and right sides with a predetermined interval in the width direction. When the swing lever 50 swings and the slide shafts 22 and 24 reciprocate back and forth, the grippers 34 and 35 reciprocate back and forth as shown in FIG. 2 (the position where the solid line moves most forward, The position where the imaginary line has moved to the farthest rear) does not change during the reciprocating movement, but the state of being arranged left and right along the width direction does not change. That is, the grippers 34, 35 move the same at the same time without changing their orientation during reciprocation (ie, each gripper 34, 35 performs a kind of translation during the reciprocation). The moving direction is perpendicular to the width direction of the grippers 34 and 35.
[0017]
On the other hand, as the slide shaft 22 reciprocates back and forth, the cam roller 43 moves along the cam groove 45. At the same time, the slide shaft 24 reciprocates back and forth and the cam roller 44 moves along the cam groove 46. As a result, when the slide shafts 22 and 24 move forward (leftward in FIG. 2), that is, when the grippers 34 and 35 move forward, the distance between the grippers 34 and 35 decreases, and the slide shafts 22 and 24 Moves backward (rightward in FIG. 2), that is, when the grippers 34 and 35 move rearward, the distance between the grippers 34 and 35 increases. This state is shown by a solid line and a virtual line in FIG.
[0018]
Next, an example of the procedure of bag delivery by the bag delivery device 14 will be described with reference to FIGS.
(1) The grippers 34 and 35 of the bag delivery device 14 are stopped at the rearmost virtual line position (hereinafter referred to as a receiving position), and the movable gripping portions 34a and 35a are opened and waited.
(2) At the stop position VII of the rotary type vertical filling device 2, the grippers 53 (two sets) holding both side edges of the filled bag A are stopped. The receiving position is set to a position where the bag A held by the gripper 53 stops.
(3) The air cylinder 33 is actuated to close the grippers 34 and 35 (movable gripping portions 34a and 35a are closed) and grip the upper edge portion of the bag A. Immediately after that, the gripper 53 opens.
[0019]
(4) The drive shaft 51 rotates and the drive lever 50 swings, and the grippers 34 and 35 move toward the front solid line position (hereinafter referred to as the delivery position). In this process, the distance between the grippers 34 and 35 is reduced, and the distance between the two bags A is also reduced.
(5) The vacuum chamber 11 of the rotary vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3 stops at the stop position I after the grippers 34 and 35 reach the delivery position or immediately before reaching. The delivery position is set so that the bag A gripped by the grippers 34 and 35 comes to the gripping position of the gripper 12 of the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3.
(6) The swing fulcrum shaft 54 is rotated, the gripper arm 55 and the movable gripping portion 12b are rotated, and the vicinity of the bag mouth of the two bags A (the lower position of the position gripped by the grippers 34 and 35) is fixed. The grip part 12a and the movable grip part 12b are gripped simultaneously. The movable gripping portion 12b has recesses a formed in a part in the width direction (at least two locations corresponding to the two bags A), and this is an air passage from the inside of the bag to the outside of the bag.
(7) Immediately after that, the air cylinder 33 reversely operates to open the grippers 34 and 35 (see the phantom line in FIG. 4), then the drive shaft 51 rotates reversely and the drive lever 50 swings reversely, The grippers 34 and 35 move toward the receiving position. In this process, the distance between the grippers 34 and 35 increases.
[0020]
The rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3 receives the two bags A in the vacuum chamber 11 and then performs vacuum processing on the two bags A during one rotation, and the upper edge portion thereof. Seal. In FIG. 4, 56 is a heater device installed in the chamber body 11a (the heater cradle is installed in the chamber lid 11b), 57 is an air cylinder for driving, and in this example, two bags A are Sealing is performed simultaneously by one heater device 56 and a cradle.
[0021]
According to the vertical vacuum packaging machine, in the bag delivery device 14, the distance between the grippers 34 and 35 is reduced while the grippers 34 and 35 are moved from the delivery position to the delivery position. As a result, the two bags A received by the vacuum chamber 11. , The width of the gripper 12 of the vacuum chamber 11 can be reduced to a size that is not much different from the width of two bags. Accordingly, the size of the vacuum chamber 11 can be suppressed despite the W type, and the entire rotary vacuum processing apparatus can be made compact.
Further, since the two grippers 34 and 35 (and the two bags A) reciprocate between the receiving position and the delivery position without changing the direction thereof, for example, a rotary type described in JP-A-8-301232 Unlike the pitch changing device, the filled bag A is not swung, and the bag contents are prevented from spilling or the gripping position of the bag from being shifted. Further, by moving the gripper in a direction perpendicular to the width direction in the horizontal plane, the moving distance of the gripper can be minimized.
[0022]
On the other hand, in the above example, the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus 3 is an intermittent rotary type, but the present invention can also be applied to a continuous rotary type rotary vertical vacuum processing apparatus. This is because the grippers 34 and 35 of the bag delivery device 14 follow the rotation of the rotary vertical vacuum processing device at the delivery position (for example, immediately before the bag is gripped by the gripper of the rotary vertical vacuum processing device). Until the grippers 34 and 35 are opened and separated from the vacuum chamber). In the above example, two bags are gripped together in the vacuum chamber 11 using the gripper 12 composed of the fixed gripping portion 12a and the movable gripping portion 12b that rotates horizontally. It is possible to use other types of grippers as long as they can grip a single bag, or it is possible to grip two bags with different grippers.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, in a vertical vacuum packaging machine provided with a W-type rotary vertical vacuum processing apparatus as well as a W-type vertical filling apparatus, the vacuum chamber and the entire vertical vacuum packaging machine are made compact. In addition, the decompression time can be reduced and productivity can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a vertical vacuum packaging machine according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bag delivery device according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partial side sectional view thereof.
FIG. 4 is a partial front view thereof.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Rotary type vertical filling device 3 Rotary type vertical vacuum processing device 11 Vacuum chamber 12 Gripper 12a of rotary type vertical vacuum processing device Gripper fixed gripping part 12b Gripper movable gripping part 14 Bag delivery device 34, 35 Bag delivery device Gripper 53 Gripper for rotary vertical filling equipment

Claims (4)

  A plurality of sets of grippers gripping both side edges of the bag intermittently move along a circular path or a reciprocating path, and at each stop position, the bags are supplied to two adjacent grippers and the grippers 2 are gripped by the two sets of grippers. Horizontally equipped with a W-type vertical filling device that performs filling operations on individual bags at the same time, and a plurality of vertically openable vacuum chambers each equipped with grippers for holding two bags filled with contents, and with openable lids. A W-type rotary vertical vacuum processing device that rotates along a circular path and seals the bag and seals the bag mouth during one rotation, and two each holding one bag The grippers are arranged at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the bag, reciprocate simultaneously between the receiving position and the delivery position without changing the direction of the gripper, and in the process of moving from the receiving position to the delivery position. At the receiving position, two filled bags held by two adjacent grippers of the vertical filling device are simultaneously received at the receiving position, and to the gripper of the rotary vertical vacuum processing device at the delivery position. Vertical vacuum packaging machine equipped with a bag delivery device that delivers at the same time.   2. The vertical type filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertical type filling apparatus is a rotary type vertical filling apparatus in which a plurality of sets of grippers holding both side edges of a bag are intermittently moved along a horizontal circular path. Type vacuum packaging machine.   The gripper of the rotary type vertical vacuum processing apparatus is provided with a fixed grip portion horizontally mounted in the vacuum chamber and a movable grip portion that rotates horizontally with the retarded side of the rotation direction of the vacuum chamber as a base end portion. The vertical vacuum packaging machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein two bags are simultaneously held between the holding part and the movable holding part.   The bag delivery device includes a reciprocating mechanism that reciprocates the two grippers between the delivery position and the delivery position without changing the orientation of the gripper, and the two grippers move from the delivery position to the delivery position. 4. A contact / separation mechanism that narrows the distance between the two grippers in the process and widens the distance between the two grippers in the process of moving from the delivery position to the receiving position. Vertical vacuum packaging machine.

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